Sales script template: build your own call script in six parts

This page is for SDRs, account executives, founders and sales managers who want a script they built themselves, for any kind of sales call: discovery, inbound, demo, follow-up, expansion or closing. It gives you a worksheet, a skeleton and scripts by call type, then shows how to test one. If you want ready-made cold call openers and gatekeeper branches, start with the cold calling scripts.

What a sales script is, and what it isn't

A sales script is the planned structure of a call: what you'll say first, what you'll ask, what proof you'll offer, what you'll ask for and how you'll respond to the answers you expect. It's a page you know well enough to put away, not words to read. Prospects can hear reading, and reading makes it hard to listen.

The structure stays the same across call types. What changes is the outcome you want and how much you already know.

The six parts of a sales script

1. The outcome. One thing you want when the call ends: a booked meeting, an agreed evaluation, a decision date. If you can't name it, you're not ready to call.
2. The opener. Who you are, in one line, and why you're calling this person: a fact about their company, a referral or something they did.
3. The problem hypothesis. What that fact usually means for someone in their role, phrased so they can correct you.
4. The questions. Three to five open questions that test the hypothesis and find out how they'd decide.
5. The proof. One short, true story about a similar customer, with a number if you have one you're allowed to share.
6. The ask. Specific: a purpose, a day and a time, or a clear next step.

Then add the branches: what you'll say to "send me an email", "we already use someone", "not interested" and "I'm not the right person". The objection handling guide has responses you can adapt.

Build your script: the worksheet

Fill this in before you write any lines. Write the opener last: it's easier once you know the problem and the proof.

CALL TYPE: [cold / inbound / discovery / demo / follow-up / expansion / closing]
WHO I'M CALLING: [role, type and size of company]
THE ONE OUTCOME I WANT: [e.g. a 30-minute discovery meeting this week]

WHY THIS PERSON, WHY NOW: [the fact or trigger, with its source and date]
WHAT IT USUALLY MEANS FOR THEM: [the problem, in words they'd use]

QUESTIONS (three to five, open):
1. [How are you handling ... today?]
2. [What happens if ... is still the case in three months?]
3. [Who else gets involved when you change ...?]

PROOF: [similar customer, the problem, what changed, a number I can share]
THE ASK: [purpose, day, time]

BRANCHES:
"Send me an email": [my response]
"We already use someone": [my response]
"Not the right person": [my response]
"Not interested": [my response]

OPENER: Hi [first name], it's [your name] from [company]. [Why I'm calling you: the fact or reason.]

PERMISSION: [Have I caught you at a bad time? / Is now still good?]

HYPOTHESIS: Usually when [the fact], [role]s find that [the problem]. Is that the case for you, or have you got it covered?

QUESTIONS: [Question 1] ... [Listen. Follow up on their words.] ... [Question 2]

PROOF: [Similar customer] had the same issue. They [what changed], and [the result].

ASK: Would it be worth [the next step] on [day] at [time] to [purpose]?

CLOSE: Thanks, [first name]. I'll send [what you promised] today.

Adapt it by role

Keep the six parts; change the problem, the questions and the proof for each role you call. Here's a version for a recruiting software vendor:

Sales script templates by call type

OPEN: Thanks for making the time, [first name]. I've got us down for [30] minutes. I'd like to understand how [area] works today and what you'd change, then I'll tell you honestly whether we can help. Does that work?

QUESTIONS:
- What prompted you to take this call?
- How does [process] work today, step by step?
- What does that cost you, in time, money or missed targets?
- What have you tried already?
- If you changed something, who else would be involved, and by when?

ASK: Based on what you've said, the next useful step is [specific step]. Can we put [day] at [time] in now?

OPEN: Hi [first name], it's [your name] from [company]. You [requested a call / downloaded our guide to X] on [day], so I'm calling to help, not to pitch.

QUESTION: What made you look into [topic] this week?

[Listen. Then:] Usually that comes up when [problem]. Is that what's going on at [company]?

ASK: The quickest way to see if we fit is [20 minutes on your actual numbers]. Would [day] at [time] work?

OPEN: Before I show anything, last time you said [their problem, in their words] and that [what matters most]. Is that still right, or has anything changed?

[Show only the two or three parts that solve what they said.]

CHECK after each part: How would that work with the way your team does [process]?

CLOSE: What would you need to see, or who would need to see this, to decide whether to go ahead?

OPEN: Hi [first name], it's [your name]. I'm calling about the proposal I sent on [date]. I'm not calling to chase; I want to check whether it answers what [decision maker] will ask.

QUESTIONS:
- What's the first question [decision maker] will ask about it?
- Is there anything in the scope or price that doesn't match what you need?
- What has to happen on your side before [their decision date]?

ASK: Would it help if I joined the conversation with [decision maker] on [day]?

OPEN: Hi [first name], it's [your name]. I've been looking at how [your team] uses [product]: [specific usage fact, e.g. hiring volume up 40% since spring].

HYPOTHESIS: Teams growing that fast usually hit [next problem]. Is that showing up yet?

QUESTION: If it is, who else would care about fixing it?

ASK: Worth 20 minutes on [day] to look at the numbers together?

OPEN: Thanks, [names]. The goal today is a decision on [what], so you can [their outcome] by [their date]. Is that still the goal?

RECAP: What you told us: [problem and its cost]. What we proposed: [solution, price, term].

QUESTION: What's left between here and a yes?

[Answer each concern, or agree when you'll answer it.]

ASK: If those are settled, are you ready to sign by [date] so we can start on [date]?

Worked example: building and testing a script

Illustrative example. The companies, people and figures are fictional, to show the method.

The seller: Jordan, an SDR at Talentloop (talentloop.example), recruiting software. The list: heads of talent acquisition at hospital and clinic groups with 500 to 5,000 employees. The outcome: a 30-minute discovery meeting.

The worksheet, filled in: the trigger is a new location; Cedar Valley Clinics (cedarvalley.example) announced two clinics opening in spring. The likely problem: dozens of hires on a fixed date, with recruiters tied up scheduling interviews. The proof: a clinic group that cut scheduling from about 6 hours to about 2 hours per recruiter per week (a customer who agreed to be named on calls). The ask: Thursday at 10.

The opener that came out of it (46 words):

Hi Maya, it's Jordan from Talentloop. I saw Cedar Valley is opening two clinics in the spring. Usually that means a lot of hires against a fixed date, and recruiters losing days to interview scheduling. Have I caught you at a bad time?

Testing it against the old opener. Jordan's team wanted to know whether the new opener got more prospects past the first 30 seconds. After 200 dials each at a 10% connect rate, each version had 20 connects: the old opener got 10 conversations (50%), the new one 13 (65%).

That looks like a win, but it isn't proof yet. With 20 connects per version, a difference between two rates near 50% needs to be larger than about 31 percentage points before you can be reasonably confident it isn't chance (1.96 × √(0.25/20 + 0.25/20) ≈ 0.31). At 100 connects each, that threshold falls to about 14 points. So the team kept both versions running until each had 100 connects, about 1,000 dials each, measured conversations per connect rather than meetings per dial, and listened to five recorded calls a week from each.

Finding the trigger for every account on a list is the slow part. Bebop researches each account and writes a playbook with recent events, the people to call and the angle to open with, which fills in the top of the worksheet.

The rules your script has to follow

This is general information, not legal advice. The cold calling scripts page covers the US and UK rules in more detail.

• Most B2B calls are exempt from the FTC's Telemarketing Sales Rule, but calls to sell nondurable office or cleaning supplies, and calls asking employees to buy for themselves, are not.
• Misrepresentation is banned on B2B calls too. Since March 2024, the rule's prohibition on misrepresentations extends to business-to-business telemarketing. Your script's claims, proof and reason for calling must be true.
• AI-voiced scripts are "artificial voice" calls. In February 2024, the FCC ruled that AI-generated voices fall under the TCPA's restrictions on artificial or prerecorded voices, which require prior express consent, and prior express written consent for telemarketing robocalls.

Mistakes to avoid

• Writing a speech. If the opener runs past 20 seconds, cut the product description first.
• Questions you don't need answered. Every question should test the hypothesis or the decision.
• Proof you can't stand behind. Use only customer stories and numbers you have permission to share.
• Changing everything at once. If you change the opener and the ask together, you won't know which worked.
• Judging on a handful of calls. Wait for at least 100 connects per version.
• Never updating it. The words prospects use on calls belong in the next version.

Script checklist

• The outcome is one sentence and it's specific.
• The opener is under 20 seconds read aloud, and the reason is about them.
• The hypothesis is a question they can correct.
• There are no more than five main questions.
• The proof is one customer, one number, and you're allowed to use it.
• The ask has a purpose, a day and a time.
• You have a branch for the four most common answers.
• You've rehearsed it out loud with a colleague playing the prospect.

Next step: build the question section properly with the discovery call questions guide, which groups questions by what you need to learn.